District I runoff mirrors larger political rivalry

Robert Gallegos, 54
Occupation: detention officer at the Harris County jail
Website: voterobertgallegos.com/

Robert Gallegos, 54
Occupation: detention officer at the Harris County jail
Website: voterobertgallegos.com/

Image 2 of 2

Graci Garces, 33
Occupation: chief of staff for term-limited District I incumbent James Rodriguez
Website: votegraci.com/

Graci Garces, 33
Occupation: chief of staff for term-limited District I incumbent James Rodriguez
Website: votegraci.com/

Photo: Picasa

District I runoff mirrors larger political rivalry

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Saturday's runoff in City Council District I, which covers downtown and the East End, pits the protégés of two pillars of Hispanic politics against each other in the sort of showdown political observers love.

Surviving the November ballot's tightest race, in which just 341 votes separated first from last among the four candidates, were Graci Garces and Robert Gallegos.

Gallegos, 54, a civic activist and Harris County jailer, served eight years as an aide to former eastside Harris County Commissioner and now-state Sen. Sylvia Garcia. Garces, 33, is chief of staff for term-limited District I Councilman James Rodriguez; both Garces and Rodriguez worked for former council member and now-State Rep. Carol Alvarado.

Alvarado and Garcia waged a bitterly contested campaign earlier this year for the post Garcia now holds, a history that frames Saturday's runoff.

"It's going to be machine politics at its purest: Which machine can mobilize more people to turn out to vote?" said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones, who added that turnout is expected to be dismal. "Probably 2,500 votes gets you the seat, perhaps even less. That's a small number of people to be electing a City Council member in a city the size of Houston."

Gallegos acknowledges Garcia is promoting him, just as Garces acknowledges Alvarado has block-walked and Rodriguez has made fundraising calls. Yet, both candidates say they have waged their own campaigns, just as both suggest their opponent's support has come mostly thanks to their mentor's influence.

Garces has an edge in money, having spent $109,604 as of last week, with $20,072 on hand; Gallegos had spent $51,247, with $18,518 on hand.

On policy, Garces and Gallegos advocate similar issues for their historic slice of central Houston, where a new soccer stadium, a near-complete Metro light rail line and a $156 million expansion at Hobby Airport have created a buzz, even as the district faces aging infrastructure and household incomes and education levels lag citywide averages.

Infrastructure priority

Both candidates call infrastructure a top priority. Many streets have been repaired, Garces said, but roads and drainage remain a key concern; a lack of funds meant many streets got new pavement when full reconstructions were needed.

Gallegos points to ReBuild Houston, the city's ambitious street and drainage rebuilding effort approved by voters in 2010, which is based on a data-driven model that repairs the worst areas first. Gallegos said he will fight to ensure the district, with some of the city's oldest neighborhoods, gets its share.

"I'm going to fight to make sure that we are going to get our fair share back into District I, into the areas that are in desperate need of repairing their streets and drainage issues," Gallegos said, adding he also would ensure the district gets its share of trails via the Bayou Greenways 2020 effort.

During her decade in the district office, Garces said she worked with animal rescue groups to address problems with strays, helped save youth programs threatened during the recession, when the city faced budget deficits, and sought to reduce the district's backlog of dangerous and abandoned buildings. Garces said she wants to pursue a program, perhaps with developers' cooperation, to expedite the razing of crumbling structures.

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Gallegos, a founder of the Eastwood-Lawndale Super Neighborhood Council, noted his own community efforts: He and others lobbied city leaders to abandon plans to run the light rail line on a long overpass and instead construct an underpass on Harrisburg to leave the street open for economic development. Gallegos said he also helped persuade Houston ISD not to sell a historic school and worked to gather support and grant funding for a pedestrian bridge across Sims Bayou in a local park.

"I was born, raised and I've lived in this district all my life," Gallegos said. "For 30 years, I've been a community leader, a community organizer, a community activist. That's what sets me apart, because Graci Garces has just one year residency in District I. Graci just voted in a city election for herself back on Nov. 5."

Developed networks

Garces said her work is what matters, not the tenure of her residency; she previously lived in Humble.

"I've worked in this district for 10 years. I've spent more time in the district in the past 10 years doing things for the district than my opponent has," she said. "I have the relationships with the community leaders and I have a relationship with the people inside City Hall. I know how to promote and push for agenda items that are necessary for our community, and I just don't think he has the experience in that."